Bloomberg reported Thursday that Amazon is developing earbuds that will come with Alexa built-in and be available as early as the second half of 2019. The earbuds will feature similar functionality to AirPods but Amazon is aiming to improve the audio quality, Bloomberg noted. The headphones will let users buy products, play music, and access information with their voice via Alexa, Amazon’s voice service.

The hardware is being developed by Lab126, Amazon’s hardware R&D unit that is also reportedly building a home robot. Amazon’s other hardware products include the Echo speaker, Fire tablets, and Kindle e-readers

Apple’s popular AirPods, which debuted more than two years ago, range from $159 to $199. Amazon is known to undercut competition by lowering the price of its hardware.

Amazon will be happy to sell these at low/no margin to increase Alexa adoption. Will the same apply for Apple re: Siri?

Google launched its own version of wireless earbuds called Pixel Buds last year. Samsung just rolled out its Galaxy Buds. Other competitors include Sony and Jabra.

We’ve reached out to Amazon for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

Taylor Soper is GeekWire's managing editor, responsible for coordinating the newsroom, planning coverage, and editing stories. A native of Portland, Ore., and graduate of the University of Washington, he was previously a GeekWire staff reporter, covering beats including startups and sports technology. Follow him @taylor_soper and email taylor@geekwire.com.